Pavithran, the genius

Pavithran, the veteran Malayalam film director made his debut in films by producing 'Kabani Nadi Chuvannapol". P.A. Baker directed the film and T.V. Chandran played the protagonist. It is still amazing that the film escaped the eagle eyes of the censors, though not without cuts. Pavithran, hailing from Kandanassery in Thrissur, an unsuccessful attempt to get admission at the Film Institute, Pune. This failure made him join a Law College nearby the film institute at Pune. There he interacted with the film students and he could understand a lot about the world of celluloid.

In 1978 his dream project, his maiden venture as a director, Yaro Oral hit the screen. He owned the entire accolade to this film, as he had scripted and produced it. Yaro Oral earned him the State Award for the best director. He shuffled the traditional styles of story, editing and presentation. Pavithran"s films deals with social realities. Uppu, which had won the national and State awards in 1986, throws light on the social evils confronting the Muslim society. Three years later he came up with Utharam, with Mammootty in the lead role. After its moderate success in the box office, he had been approached by some producers for similar ones.

Later he produced two documentaries. Neta ki Kahani, produced by the late Bahadur, is chronicle on K. Karunakaran. This 55-mts film has been dubbed into three languages. Gabriel enna Karmayogi is another documentary he directed during this period. His next film Kuttappan Sakshi was made on a shoestring budget of 14 lakhs in 2000.

Kuttappan Sakshi, an avant-garde film is a critical evaluation of the socio-political roots of modern Kerala. Kuttappan, the octogenarian, who hails from a non-descript North Malabar village surpassed the vagaries of time witnessing the ravages and the fall of feudalism. He passes through the social reformations, freedom struggle; spread of communism and consumerism. From the hey days of feudalism to the invasion of our skies by the satellite channels, Kuttappan witnesses the rise and fall of idealism.

Pavithran, the maestro aspires to film Thattakam, the epic novel by Kovilan. He also dreams of his celluloid recreation of M. Mukundan"s masterpiece Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil.

This article has been contributed by Sanoop K.V as a part of our Citizen Journalism initiative. He is currently persuing his Master of Communication and Journalism at University of Calicut.